Components which are designed as hollow bodies with complex geometries and complex through-holes in the region of an outer wall of the component can be produced in various ways.
Many components, in particular metallic components made from alloys, are produced by casting processes, for example by the investment casting process. In this process, in a first step a casting mold which at least in part represents the negative of the component to be produced is produced from a wax model of the component by the wax model being encased in ceramic.
Through-holes in the walls of hollow components, such as for example film-cooling holes in turbine components, are usually introduced at a later stage by means of a laser and its laser beams, as shown by U.S. Pat. No. 6,329,015 B1. The laser beam guidance is very complex. This entails remachining of the casting or of the directionally solidified component. Consequently, processes for producing a casting with holes which are introduced at a later stage, in particular through-holes, are therefore time-consuming.